Christchurch considers contamination fund

Christchurch City Council is considering a special $1 million fund to clean up private properties on the former Sandilands dump.

Sandilands, a 12.5ha area in Wainoni-Aranui, was a council landfill from 1870 to 1942, before it was covered and developed by the council for housing.

The council owns 28 of the 112 properties, and has already spent $256,000 doing remedial work on seven of the properties tested and found to have contaminant levels above recommended guidelines.

Of the 84 privately owned properties, five out of six tested by the council were above the guidelines.